Folder.



E. T. ALLAN.

. FOLDER.

APPLlCATION FILED MAY 18. 1910.

1,217,549. v Patented Feb. 27,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E. T. ALLAN FOLDER.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY|8.1910.

Patented Feb. 27,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EDWARD THOMAS ALLAN, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 UNION SPECIAL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

Application filed May 18, 1910. Serial No. 562,054.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD T. ALLAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folders, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to folders for fabrics, and especially to one adapted for folding the collaret or other binding strip and guiding it to the stitch forming mechanism of the sewing machine, so that the raw edges of the strip may be turned in, and the strip attached to the body fabric.

Afolder of this character is usually arranged with its longitudinal axis at right anglesto the line of feed of the sewing machine with the forward end of such folder arranged at an angle of about forty-five degrees to its axis. The folded strip as it leaves the folder is led off in the direction of feed of the machine, and the result of this is to reverse the fold which has been formed by the folder and thus lay the out-- wardly turned edges properly upon the body fabric for stitching. I

As ordinarily constructed, such a folder is formed by two spaced members which are symmetrically curved and are preferably joined, forming in reality one continuous piece. Said members at the receiving end of the folder are but slightly curved so that the strip to be folded when received thereby,

the binding strip, because of the contracted nature of the throat at the delivery end.

The present invention-therefore, consists primarily in making one of said members so that it will yield automatically under increased thickness of material, and also providing for its manipulation by hand so that itmay moveaway from its companion member and permit a' more ready insertion and threading of the material there-through;

The invention 1s illustrated in the accompanyi'ng drawing inlwhich; J

' parts of the folder closed.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the yielding member separated from its companion member.

Fig. 6 is a view looking toward the receiving end of the folder;

Fig. 7- is a View looking toward the delivery or throat end of the folder; and

Fig. 8 is a view showing a binding strip folded by my improved device.

In these drawings, 1v represents the bed plate of a sewing machine of a well'known type. It is provided with a presser foot 2, attached to a presser bar 3, the presser foot having openings for the passage ofa needle or needles 4:, and this machine has in addition to the usual under feed mechanism not shown, a top feed 5 adapted to bear upon and feed the collaret or binding strip.

The folder which forms the subject of the present invention, has a base piece 6,which is secured to the throat plate 7 of the machine by suitable set screws 8.

This folder is preferably formed of two spaced members 9 and 10, which are con nected at the receiving end of the folder by a guiding loop 11 through which the bind-' ing strip passes. Beyond the forward end of this guide or loop, the two parts of the folder are symmetrically curved and are preferably held normally closer and closer to each other as they approach the delivery end of the folder, so that thestrip in pass ing through is folded upon itself.

The cooperating folding and. guiding walls of the two, separate members are of well known configuration'to accomplish the desired result, and the forwardend of the- .folder is inclined substantially at an angle of forty-five degrees to the longitudinal aXis of the folder, and the folded'strip is led off from the folder in a line at right angles to the longitudinal axis. 7 1

An important feature of the present invention relates to the formation of the spaced member 10, so that it will yield under an in creased thickness of binding strip, and also may be manipulated to separate from the member 9, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, in order that the binding strip may be properly threaded into and through the folder.

To accomplish this result, said member 10 is preferably formed of a piece of spring metal attached to the front face of the loop or guide 11, and normally by its own flexibility is held'in proper relation to its 00-- operating member 9. The guiding member 10 is provided with a hand piece 12, and by pressing on this hand piece said guiding member will yield so as to permit the guiding members to be separated, and facilitate the insertion of the binding strip between the same.

While I have herein shown this folder as applied for the folding of a raw edged strip and have shown in Fig. 8 the raw edges as turned inwardly, nevertheless, it will be understood that so far as the yielding or flexible feature is concerned of the member 10, it 'may be applied to a well known type of English binder used for folding and guiding a selvage strip of fabric.

It will be noted that the strip of material in passing through the folder is folded over upon the outer surface of the spring wall 10, therefore, if, in the cutting of the strip it be made slightly larger than the opening for the strip in the folder, the surplus in width will be merely folded over by the outer wall on the outside of the spring wall, and will thus be taken care of as the outer face of the wall is smooth and has no stop to limit the fold of the fabric.

Having thus particularly described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A folder including in combination, means for folding a binding strip, and means for inverting said folded binding strip, said folder being composed of spaced parallel walls, one of which is yielding, and means for manually operating said yielding wall.

2. A folder including in combination, means for folding a binding strip, means for inverting said folded binding strip, said folder being composed of spaced parallel walls, one being yieldingly supported in relation to the other so as to yield in a horizontal plane and means for manually operating said yielding wall.

3. A folder including in combination, means for folding a binding strip, and means for inverting said folded binding strip, said .folder being composed of spaced parallel walls, one being formed of spring metal attached at one end to the other, and means for separating it from the other at the i throat to allow the fabric to be folded to be threaded through the folder.

f. A folder including in combination, a guiding member, a second guiding member spaced from the first guiding member and yieldable relative thereto, the guiding walls of said members being shaped so as to fold a strip outwardly and backwardly upon itself into a binding strip, and the delivering end of the guiding members being inclined to the longitudinal axis of the folder, whereby said binding strip may be inverted and led from the folder in a direction substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the folder, and a hand piece for moving one of said guiding members relative to the other to allow for the free thread ing of the binding material through said folder.

5. A folder including in combination, a guiding member bent so as to form in cross section a U-shaped passage, the delivery end of said guiding member being cut away centrally to form a delivering opening, whereby a binding strip folded around said guiding member may be inverted and delivered through said opening, a U-shaped resilient member. yieldingly cooperating with said first named member for guiding the material, the delivery end of said U-shaped member being inclined to the longitudinal axis of the folder.

6. A folder including in combination, a guiding member bent so as to form in cross section a U-shaped passage, the delivery end of said guiding member being cut away centrally to form a delivering opening, whereby a binding strip folded around said guiding member may be inverted and delivered through said opening, a U-shaped resilient member yieldingly cooperating with said first named member for guiding the material, the delivery end of said U-shaped member being inclined to the longitudinal axis of the folder, said U-shaped member having rounded points at the delivery end thereof, whereby the binding strip may be readily withdrawn.

7. A folder including in combination, a i

guiding wall bent between its receiving and delivering ends to form a central U-shaped projecting member, the outer side edges of said guiding wall being free and substantially parallel with the sides of the U-shaped member, and a cooperating second U-shaped guiding wall adapted to engage the material and fold the same around the central U- shaped part of the first-named Wall, the outer side edges of the binding strip being folded over on to the second U-shaped guiding wall, said second U-shaped guiding Wall being yieldable relative to said first guiding wall, whereby the same may be moved to wafld and from said first named guiding wa 8. A folder including in combination, a guiding wall bent between its receiving and delivering ends to form a central U-shaped projecting member, the outer side edges of said guiding wall being free and substantially parallel with the sides of the U-shaped member, and a cooperating second U-shaped guiding wall adapted to engage the material and fold the same around the central U- shaped part of the first-named wall, the

being yieldable relative to said first named guiding wall, whereby the same may be moved toward and from said first named guiding wall, and a hand piece connected to said second U-shaped guiding wall for moving the same.

In testimony whereof I azfiix my signa- 2c ture, in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD THOMAS ALLAN.

Witnesses:

EDITH Tom), ALLAN E. BRANCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

